Christmas Sasunaru special
by Kasverah
Summary: FOUR DAYS, FOUR CHAPTERS, AND JUST OVER 16,000 WORDS! Story: Naruto and Sasuke have their first christmas, and Naruto want's it to be perfect. But when something horrible happens, will the perfect christmas be ruined? Or will Sasuke save it? (Complete unless people demand further chapter about after christmas.) CONTINUED
1. Chapter 1

**This is set in a time when Sasuke and Naruto have been dating for less than a year, however I have aged them up to sixteen. The vague time in relation to the series is before Sasuke leaves the village to join Orochimaru, he and Naruto get together, and although I won't tell that story here, he is basically prevented from leaving by their union. Tsunade is the Hokage, Naruto having found her, and many things have probably happened since, but like I said, focussing on this story, not that. Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 1 - 22nd of December**

"SOOO HEEREEE IIIT IIIIIIIS, MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYBOOODYYY'S HAVIN FUUUUN!" Sasuke pulled a pillow over his head as Naruto belted out the lyrics along with the TV. He'd got up every morning with the same enthusiasm; making mulled apple juice, eating mince pies, watching terrible holiday TV, and decorating the house. Sasuke groaned as his boyfriend's voice completely lost the tune, but carried on with the same determination.

"NARUTO." Sasuke yelled, sitting up, and rubbing his face with the heels of his hands.

"SASUKE! YOU'RE AWAKE!" Naruto called from downstairs, and he heard the blonde making his way up the stairs.

"Ugh…couldn't you at least turn the music down if you're coming up here?" Sasuke asked, receiving a grin from Naruto.

"But the house has to sound like Christmas!" The blonde seemed so excited, Sasuke couldn't be mad at him, but that wouldn't stop him being grumpy.

"I told you before, I don't like Christmas."

"That's because you haven't had anyone to celebrate it with for…" Naruto appeared to think hard, no doubt trying to count, "…too many years." The blonde looked so serious that Sasuke couldn't help a small smile tug at his cheeks. "Besides…" Naruto pulled puppy eyes, which were surprisingly effective for a sixteen year old. "This is my first proper Christmas." Sasuke glared at him, knowing full well this was emotional blackmail. _It's still working though._ The raven thought to himself, sighing, and rubbing his forehead with one hand.

"Alright, you win. I'll come down and make eggnog in a minute." Naruto cheered, and disappeared back downstairs, leaving Sasuke to try and wake himself up.

Early in December, Naruto had been going on about Christmas, and presents, and traditions, and a lot of really bizarre ideas. As they'd been talking, they'd gone past a stall that sold roasted chestnuts, and eggnog. Naruto had bounced over to the stall, nearly taking Sasuke's arm out of its socket, and bought a bag of chestnuts on the spot. He'd wanted eggnog as well, but it had been alcoholic. His disappointment had been clearly visible, so Sasuke had agreed to make him non-alcoholic eggnog when they got home. It was something Sasuke soon came to regret, because then Naruto asked for it every morning. The one morning he'd trusted the blonde with the recipe, and left him alone to do it in the kitchen, he had somehow burnt it. Apparently he didn't read the instructions properly, and thought 'stir' said 'simmer'. Sasuke, after that incident, had said he would make the drink himself each morning, whilst Naruto looked on like a dog that had made a mess. Which, if the raven thought about it, he pretty much was.

"LOOK TO THE FUTURE NOW, IT'S ONLY JUST-" Sasuke cringed as Naruto's voice cracked, and grabbed a warm fleece jumper, pulling it on above his winter pyjama trousers as he went downstairs.

"Please…if I make eggnog, can we have half an hour, just, half an hour, with no Christmas songs?" Sasuke pleaded, making Naruto pout.

"But it's only a few days until Christmas…"

"I know, trust me, I know. It is in fact three days, as you remind me every day how long we have until Christmas." Sasuke glared at the blonde, who grinned nonetheless.

"Your murder stare doesn't work on me teme." He stuck his tongue out at the raven. "And I'll give you twenty minutes, that's the maximum."

"Fine." Sasuke grumbled. _I'll take whatever reprieve I can bloody get._ He thought to himself, but even Sasuke's inner Grinch couldn't stand up to Naruto in his festive spirit, and soon the Christmas songs were jingling through the house again.

"Hey! Sasuke?" Naruto said, pausing in a terrible rendition of 'I wish it could be Christmas every day'.

"Hm?" The raven looked up from a cookbook. Despite all his objections and scrooge appearance, he was actually determined to make this the best Christmas ever for Naruto. The blonde had experienced too many sad ones, this one would, if Sasuke had any say in it, be perfect.

"Do you have a stocking?" Sasuke frowned. He wasn't sure he did, or at least not that he'd seen since his family died. He paused on that line of thought, realising that the loss of them felt less…sharp, less painful, since Naruto had moved into his life. A small smile warmed his lips, and he looked back at the blonde.

"Not that I know the location of. We should go to town and get a pair." Naruto grinned in relief, seeming happy both that he wasn't the only one lacking one, and that Sasuke seemed fine with getting them.

"Alright! Shopping trip!" Naruto beamed, running to the hallway to pull on boots and a jacket.

"Naru…oh for, NARUTO." Sasuke yelled, and the blonde leant around the doorframe questioningly, still fighting a boot. "You're in pyjamas. And as much as you don't object to pyjama shopping, it's cold out, and I'm not having you make yourself ill." _Plus I morally object to going into the village in pyjamas._ Sasuke thought to himself, but refrained from saying aloud.

Fifteen minutes later, and Naruto was bouncing by the front door, fully dressed now, and impatient for Sasuke to be ready.

"C'moooonnn!" He whined, hopping from one foot to the other as Sasuke finished writing a list.

"Unlike you, I don't intend to do several trips out today. We're getting everything we need in one go."

"But we got the turkey, it's sitting in your freezer. And you have a surplus of bacon, Brussels sprouts, carrots and potatoes."

"…" Sasuke gave Naruto a withering look. "We need to get other ingredients that require more…freshness to them."

"Ugh, fine." Naruto sighed dramatically.

Sasuke got up and slipped his coat and boots on, having got changed faster than Naruto, who was now beaming and flung the door open the minute Sasuke was ready, running out and looping around the grounds of the Uchiha residence, enjoying his first 'walk' of the day.

The pair of them wandered through the village, the chill air bringing out a redness on their cheeks. Naruto grinned and rubbed his gloves together, chuckling slightly.

"What are you plotting?" Sasuke asked suspiciously, looking sideways at the blonde.

"Oh, nothing." Naruto said happily, putting his hands in his pockets and looking up at the cloudy sky. "I really hope it snows though."

"It probably will." Sasuke said, looking up. "The greyness…it suggests clouds heavy with rain, and the air must be cold enough for snow."

Naruto gave a stupid grin, and walked sideways, bumping into Sasuke.

"We could make snow angels." He sang, and Sasuke gave him a glare.

"I'm not making a snow angel."

"Oh come on!" Naruto objected. "I never had anyone to make one with!"

"No. I'm not making a bloody angel. I don't do religion." Naruto glared back at him and fell silent for a while, appearing to be thinking.

"I mean…technically they'd be gay snow angels…so not really religiously valid…"

"No." Sasuke said resolutely, before smirking. "Besides, who says angels weren't gay? They weren't perfect beings, one fucking fell and became the devil, and apparently gay people go to hell, so there was at least one gay…" He trailed off, looking at Naruto's unimpressed face. "…what?"

"If you're going to lecture me about religion, you can make a snow angel." Naruto crossed his arms. Sasuke sent him an icy stare, but the blonde remained resolute.

"Fine." Sasuke caved, scowling ahead, not exactly resenting, but finding it frustrating that Naruto could persuade him so easily. "But we're doing it in the estate, not out here."

"Yes!" Naruto cheered, punching the air. "Come on, you're being slow." He took Sasuke's gloved hand in his own, and dragged the raven after him, running towards the main street, where few people were dotted about, most having already done their preparations and so opting not to go out in the bitter cold.

The pair browsed the stalls in the market, Sasuke selecting some fresh herbs, and looking through the meats for something special as a side dish. Naruto looked around, fidgeting as his boyfriend asked about the quality of the sausages. He really wanted to buy his stocking, but also had an ulterior motive for going shopping. Looking across the street, he spotted it. There was a stall selling wreaths, holly, poinsettia, and, nestled in the middle, mistletoe. He grinned, the stall had run out every day. Finally he would get some.

"I'll be right back!" He said briefly to Sasuke, who nodded distractedly, not really paying attention to where the blonde was going.

"Hi!" Naruto said, beaming at the shop owner, a middle aged woman. "Can I get some of the mistletoe?" The woman had been rummaging through her boxes, and cheerfully replied.

"Ah, of course, young love blossoming at christ…" She trailed off as she stood up, eyes settling on Naruto. "Oh, you." Her tone was cold and unwelcoming.

"Yeah, me." Naruto said, grinning up at her, determined not to let her get to him right now.

"I'm not sure I have any." She replied, wearing a sour expression.

"Sure you do, right here." He said pointing.

"I'm afraid I can't-"

"Hey, you're that Uzumaki kid aren't you?" Came a voice, and Naruto looked behind her, where a young boy stood.

"Yeah?" He replied uncertainly.

"Yui, don't…" The woman began in a warning tone, but the teenager came around the stall and slung an arm over Naruto's shoulders.

"It's alright, Naruto and I are going to go for a little walk." He said, smiling maliciously.

"I have to be somewhere…" Naruto said, a small panic fluttering in his chest.

"Don't worry, it won't take long." The boy said, steering the blonde through the street and round a corner. Someone had followed them, someone familiar. Naruto turned to see a grey haired boy, older than him, with that all too familiar, all too unsettling smile on his face, standing behind them, blocking his escape. Kabuto walked over to Naruto, looking at the boy with an arm around the blonde.

"Yui, thank you. You have been most…helpful."

"You said you'd do it." The boy said, looking at Kabuto.

"I did, but unfortunately you forget that I need you for this." The grey haired boy closed the gap between them, reaching out, and Naruto yanked free of the other boy, who tried to grab him but missed.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto spat, backing away out of range.

"I'm doing what I always do, making a living." Kabuto replied, reaching into a pocket. Suddenly a blade had pierced Naruto's shoulder, making him yelp. Cursing, he pulled out a kunai, he hadn't even seen the bastard move.

"Naruto, I really think you should consider hearing what I have to say." He said calmly, adjusting his glasses. Another blade flew out and stabbed Naruto in the leg, making him stumble.

"Like I'd listen to a spy." Naruto said, turning to run, only to find himself face to face with Kabuto. _Fucking clones._ Naruto thought, darting backwards as the clone tried to tackle him. "I'm not about to listen to you!" Naruto yelled, dodging and rolling, ignoring his injured leg. "You just work for people like Orochimaru, who want to take down the village."

"All I want to do is make a name for myself." Kabuto said, his original body walking towards Naruto as the blonde parried blows with the clone. "And I have found a perfect way to do it." He advanced, pulling out a strange looking blade, one Naruto didn't recognise, but one that gave off a dark aura. "I won't bore you with the details, but…let's just say that this blade isn't something you can heal from in your own…peculiar way." Naruto paled, he didn't like the sound of that. "I'm not here for fun, I'm here for science." The other boy, Yui, lunged at Naruto, tackling him to the ground, the clone pinning Naruto's arms down above his head.

"What are you-" Naruto began, fear making his voice quake, but then his jacket and top were roughly pulled up, and the blade sliced through his chest, sending blinding pain through him as it felt like acid burning across his skin. He cried out, blood trailing down his side, and puddling in the dirt beside him.

"Now for the ultimate test." Kabuto smirked, and placed a hand over Naruto, performing a healing jitsu.

Nothing happened.

The skin didn't even become less painful, the blood still running down his side.

"Wonderful." Kabuto smiled, looking at the skin in admiration.

"You said you'd do it." Yui growled, tightly holding onto Naruto's legs.

"Fine." Kabuto sighed. "Just demean my skills and turn them into nothing more than a bullying tactic." He reached out again and started carving into Naruto's flesh, making the boy cry out, only to bite back the noise in fear that Sasuke would hear him. He didn't want this scene to be what Sasuke saw 3 days before Christmas. "There." Kabuto said bluntly, standing up, his clone vanishing as he hid the blade. "I will expect the rest of my payment within the next few days." The grey haired boy stood up and walked away, Yui struggling to his feet, wearing a vicious sneer.

"Try and escape your identity now. Even your boyfriend won't want to look at you." He spat, turning to leave as well. Whereas Kabuto had seemed to fade into the darkness, this ninja merely walked back the way he'd come, sporting a bruise on one cheek from where Naruto had caught him.

The blonde rolled over, and struggled to his knees, pulling up his slightly bloody clothes to see the damage. There was a deep gash across his chest, just above his tattoo, and above it was the word 'fag'. Naruto felt shame and despair rise up through him, covering the wounds with his clothes, and clutching his chest. The words weren't bleeding as much as the other wound, shallower as they were, but they still hurt, as did the gash. But that paled in comparison to how Naruto felt. Several realisations came to him at once, one: he couldn't let Sasuke find out, he would blame himself for the slur cut into Naruto's flesh. Two: He couldn't tell Tsunade, Christmas had to be preserved, and there was no way the hokage would let them celebrate in peace if she knew the threat in the air. Three: He had to get somewhere to someone he could trust, someone who would patch him up as much as was possible, but without anyone finding out. He cursed under his breath, not noticing someone running towards him.

"Naruto, Naruto!" Came a fearful voice, and the blonde turned up to meet to anxious onyx eyes. "I'm sorry, I was distracted, some of the villagers cornered you again didn't they?" Sasuke said, guilt showing on his face.

"It's fine." Naruto said, forcing a smile that was clearly fake. "I just…I think I should go to Sakura's house to rest."

"No! I need to take you back to the estate and treat your wounds!" Sasuke objected, looking shocked.

"Sakura's house is closer. Besides…we still haven't got stockings." Naruto let his sadness about that fact show through his mask, and Sasuke looked on anxiously, before nodding.

"If you're sure." Naruto felt a pang of guilt, Sasuke would see it as him not being able to protect his boyfriend, so much so that said boyfriend had to go to someone else. But Naruto promised himself that he would make it up to Sasuke. He just had to cover this up, and fast.

"Yeah, just…walk me there." Sasuke nodded, and helped Naruto to his feet. The pair walked round the corner, and through the street, ignoring the stares they got from various villagers. They ended up at Sakura's house faster than they expected, her house only round the corner from the market. They rang the bell, Naruto leaning heavily on Sasuke, who was looking around impatiently.

A pink haired girl opened the door, her bored face lighting up with a smile as she saw the raven.

"Sasuke!" She beamed, about to give Naruto a slightly resentful look, which vanished the moment she took in the bloodstains and bruises. "For the love of…Naruto what happened?" She asked, looking concerned, but unable to keep the slight admonishing edge from her voice.

"I got in a fight again." Naruto grinned bashfully, only to cringe in pain.

"Come on, I'll take you to my room. Sasuke, get the-" she was interrupted by Naruto before she could finish.

"No! I mean, no, Sasuke needs to finish shopping."

"Look, I said I would go get the stockings, and I will, but do you really expect me to just leave you here when you're like this?" Sasuke said, anger and fear fighting for dominance.

"Sasuke, you have to go though." Naruto said, panicking.

"Naruto, you have no right to just send him away!" Sakura objected, frowning at him.

"But…but…" Naruto looked back and forth between them, tears forming in his eyes.

"…do stockings really mean this much to you?" Sasuke asked in exasperation. Not trusting himself to speak, Naruto just nodded. "Fine. But I'm coming straight back here, and checking on you the second I have them." Naruto nodded again, letting Sasuke pass him over to Sakura, who held his weight surprisingly well, and ushered him into the house, exchanging a look with the raven before he left the front door, shutting it behind himself. Naruto sagged in Sakura's arms, tears escaping his control, and rolling down his cheeks.

"Hey, Naruto, it's okay!" Sakura said, leading him to the kitchen where he slid down to the floor. "Sasuke is getting you a stocking." She hushed, trying to reassure him.

"No…that's…that's not…" Naruto looked away, feeling like his happy Christmas was about to slip through his fingers.

"…what are you talking about?" Sakura knelt down, making him look her in the eyes.

"…this…" Naruto said, slowly lifting his top and revealing the word and gash. There was a sharp intake of breath as Sakura saw it, and then she scrambled up, as if to leave, but Naruto grabbed her arm, pulling her back down. "No! Please don't go!" He cried.

"Naruto. You _have_ to tell _Sasuke!_ " She exclaimed, staring at him in disbelief.

"No, he'll blame himself. I just…I just need Christmas. I'll tell him after that! Please, you were the only one I could think of who would keep it a secret." He said, starting to sob.

"…then at least Tsunade should-"

"No! She'll keep me under lock and key and Christmas will be ruined!"

"Naruto you fucking little idiot!" Sakura shouted, looking furious. "Christmas is not important enough to risk you like this. You're in trouble, you need healing magic, and I'm not about to let you hide this away like nothing's wrong."

"Please…" Naruto begged. "It will heal, you know it will." He lied. "I just need Christmas to go well. I just…I've never…" Sakura's expression softened.

"Naruto…" She said gently, reaching out and touching the cuts, making him flinch slightly. "…fine. I'll keep it a secret. But only until after Christmas. I don't care if it's healed by then. Though by the looks of it, and thinking about how quickly you'll heal…the…the slur…should be gone by Christmas. But I'm going to need to clean the wounds."

"Okay." He whimpered, and let Sakura get to work. Soon she had applied medicine to his various cuts and bruises, which were already healing themselves, and had started using steri-strips to close the gash, bandaging it up along with the word written on his chest. Naruto finally relaxed when she'd finished, and let her pull his tops down again over the dressings.

"I really don't like keeping this from Sasuke." She said resentfully. "You really are a jerk sometimes." He smiled at her, knowing she only insulted him because she cared.

"I know. I'm sorry." They sat there in silence for a while as she put away her supplies. As she was clearing up, the doorbell rang again.

"That's probably Sasuke." She said, looking at Naruto, whose face had an uncertain expression on it. "It's fine." She sighed. "I said I wouldn't tell. But I bloody well expect you to after Christmas." He smiled up at her, and she left to open the front door, leading Sasuke back into the kitchen.

"Sasuke!" Naruto said, beaming, and scrambling up to greet him with a hug, before yelping slightly as his wounds stung at such enthusiastic contact.

"Baka." Sasuke said, holding Naruto at arms length so that he could examine him. "Remember that you're injured. And I would like to tell you that I'm not leaving you when you're like that again." His expression softened. "I bought stockings though." He pulled out one candy cane striped one, and a red one with a Christmas tree sewn onto it.

"OHMYGOSH OHMYGOSH OHMYGOSH!" Naruto babbled, taking them both and staring joyfully at them. "They're so perfect!" He said, going to hug Sasuke again, ignoring the stabs of pain this time, and letting the raven squeeze him back.

"Come on baka, let's get you home." Sasuke said gently, thanking Sakura, and leaving.

The sun was still up, only just, but still there nonetheless, and yet he already felt exhausted, and welcomed the sight of the gates to his estate, greeting his staff, and going to his little house at the side of the garden.

"Lets get you undressed." He said, smiling at Naruto as they returned to the safety that was indoors.

"It's fine, I can do it myself." Naruto said, about to go to the bedroom.

"I want to check you over myself though." Sasuke said, before smirking and leaning over Naruto's shoulder. "Besides, I'm all hot and bothered now." He began to nibble the blonde's neck, wrapping his arms around that strong torso, but was surprised when his boyfriend yelped and leapt away.

"Um…I…I need a bit of a nap…" Naruto stammered, looking anywhere except at Sasuke, trying not to touch his painful chest, so instead rubbing at his neck distractedly. Sasuke however, misunderstood, and looked away, feeling sadness flow through him. _Naruto doesn't blame me…I know he doesn't…but I wasn't there to protect him. I still can't…stop this happening. Of course he doesn't want to be around me right now._ He felt a scowl slipping onto his face, feeling angry at himself, but turned so that Naruto didn't see it and think it was aimed at him.

"Fine. I'll…be in the living room." He said curtly, biting his lip and leaving Naruto standing in the corridor, missing the eyes shining with guilt and tears that adorned the blonde's face.

"Okay." Naruto whispered, going upstairs and shutting himself in their bedroom, lying on the bed, letting himself cry silently, and only able to think one thing over and over again.

 _This isn't what Christmas is meant to be like._


	2. Chapter 2

Naruto woke up the next morning to find himself staring blearily at the advent calendar. He smiled, looking at how many days were left. _Only two more to go,_ he thought, smiling. He rolled over to look at Sasuke, only to find he wasn't there. Thinking that was odd, he got up, about to head downstairs, but as he reached for the door, his chest twinged, reminding him of yesterday's events. His hand hovered before the handle, beginning to shake. Pulling it back, he held his arms over his chest, gripping the shaking wrist with the other hand.

" _Baka._ " He hissed at himself, glaring at the door as if it had committed some great offence. "Come on." He growled, determined to overcome this. Grabbing the door, he forced a big grin on his face and went downstairs. "Hey teme," he smirked at Sasuke, who looked up from the eggnog. "You're up early. Do I detect a hint of enthusiasm for Christmas?"

"You stole the duvet, I was cold. So I got up." Sasuke said bluntly, shooting a glare at his boyfriend.

"No way, I had hardly any of the duvet on me this morning!" Naruto objected, crossing over to the kitchen area of the living room.

"How nice, you give my side of the bed the duvet, but not me." Naruto stood awkwardly a little way away from Sasuke. This was their usual banter, but there was something missing. Usually Naruto caught Sasuke smiling, but this time it felt empty. He looked away, trying to think of what to do.

"Do you need any help?" He asked, attempting a smile. "I totally won't mess it up this time."

"No, it's fine, I'd actually like this to be edible." Sasuke said, giving Naruto a withering look, and making the blonde pout. Finally a small smile tugged at the corners of the raven's mouth, making Naruto finally relax.

"Fine baka, but I'm putting Christmas songs on." He came over to Sasuke and leant in, giving him a kiss on the cheek, and wrapping his arms around him in a hug. "Making it difficult for you to cooook." Naruto sang, pulling Sasuke with him as he rocked back and forth.

"Naruto, do you want eggnog or not?" Sasuke said, letting his arms fall to his sides, still clutching an egg.

"Spoilsport." Naruto chuckled, releasing Sasuke, and sticking his tongue out as he danced away towards the stereo, tuning it in to a Christmas channel.

The raven smiled as he watched his partner bounce around, happily grabbing decorations and pop them up on the wall. Naruto never seemed to have finished decorating. He also kept finding stashes of the stuff, who even knew where from. Sasuke paused in his work to watch the blonde, smiling as the boy hummed out of tune and reached up. But then, just as he was finishing a ribbon's bow, he seemed to crumple slightly, holding his chest. Sasuke dropped the milk, rushing over to Naruto.

"I'm fine, really…" Naruto said as Sasuke came to support him.

"No you're not, please, let me see-"

"NO!" Naruto froze, he hadn't meant to shout, but panic had taken over. Guilt ran across his face, and he forced a smile. "I mean, I'm fine. I'm sorry, I just…" Sasuke's face was blank, no emotion, but his arms were trembling slightly. "…I'm sorry." Naruto said, looking down. "I just don't want you to worry. It's Christmas." Sasuke nodded, and released Naruto, who felt like something was being pulled out of his heart. He gently placed a hand over his chest, and held back his emotions. Sitting down, he curled up slightly, refusing to let himself break. Sasuke went back to making eggnog, and they sat in silence, neither wanting to break it.

Eventually Sasuke realised he was just adding more and more ingredients to the eggnog so that he didn't have to go over to Naruto. _This is stupid._ He thought angrily, they were partners, lovers, they relied on one another, lived together, and laughed together, which was no mere feat to achieve with Sasuke. Whatever this was, he had to face it. Picking up the drink, he poured two glasses and went over to Naruto, handing him his share, and not missing the anxiety on the blonde's face.

"Naruto…" Sasuke began, trying to find the words. "…what's going on? I…I know…yesterday…" He trailed off, unable to continue.

"I'm fine, really. You know me, I heal fast." Naruto said, forcing a smile.

"Don't do that." Sasuke said, frowning, and Naruto's smile faltered slightly.

"Don't do what?"

"That. Pretend it's okay, and smile when you don't feel like it. I'm your boyfriend, you shouldn't need to force a smile around me." Sasuke looked away, and rubbed his temples. "I want you to be honest with me."

"I am." Naruto reached out to place a hand on Sasuke's arm, but was shaken off.

"You're not. You're just trying to keep Christmas perfect." Sasuke said, unable to help his voice from rising.

"Sasuke, please don't do this." Naruto said, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Naruto, I don't give a flying fuck about Christmas, it doesn't matter to me. I couldn't care less if there was snow, or if there was a tree, or stockings, or turkey. Those things are all bullshit, and mean nothing." Naruto stared at him in horror, and before he could continue, the blonde interrupted.

"They…they may be stupid to you," he said hoarsely, making Sasuke look up in shock, immediately regretting his words, "but they're important to me. And if that makes me stupid…if that makes me bullshit…then…then maybe that's what I am."

"That's not what I meant!" Sasuke said, trying to backtrack, now taking his turn to reach out to his loved one, but Naruto slapped his hand away.

"It is, you know it is."

"Don't tell me what I'm saying!" Sasuke said, glaring at Naruto, who stood up suddenly.

"I'm going for a walk. A stupid Christmas walk."

"Naruto, you got beaten up last time you went out alone." Sasuke said, also standing up.

"I don't care." Naruto said, tears running down his face.

"Well I do."

"Why? I'm a stupid person who wants to celebrate stupid Christmas." Naruto spat, heading to the door and pulling on a jacket over his pyjamas.

"I never said you were stupid." Sasuke said, following him.

"No, you didn't. Just that something important to me was." Naruto choked out, stepping into his boots and opening the door.

"I just meant that Christmas was less important than-" Naruto slammed the door on Sasuke, who swore, and punched the hallway wall. "Than you." He muttered. Going back to the living room, he turned off the overly cheerful music, and sat down, looking at Naruto's slowly cooling eggnog, unable to drink his own. Everything was going wrong, why did it have to be like this? He got up again, pacing the room, unable to decide what to do, before spotting Naruto's bloody shirt from yesterday. Picking it up, he held it close, breathing in Naruto's scent, and allowing himself to feel despair, his expression finally showing emotion, if only for a moment. Sighing, he let go, looking at the shirt. He realised suddenly that there was a lot of blood on the chest. More than usual. A lot more. Cursing, he realised Naruto wouldn't have recovered from that yet, and had just left the house to go fuck knows where, with an open chest wound. Grabbing his coat, and dropping the shirt onto a chair, he yanked his boots on and rushed out. He had to find Naruto. He just had to.

Naruto was wandering around the village, not knowing where he would go. His chest hurt, it wasn't healing like normal. He wasn't even sure it was healing at all. Wincing, he leant on a fence, looking down the empty street. The crisp air should have felt nice, but just hurt, and he cringed against it, letting himself sob gently. All he had wanted was a Christmas he would remember. Not even a perfect one, just a memorable one. _Well I guess I'm getting that now._ He thought darkly to himself, wishing more than anything that he was with Sasuke, curled up next to him at home, reading something stupid, or watching terrible Christmas TV.

"Move it loser." Said a heavy voice from behind him, and he turned to see some older ninjas looming from round a corner. They stank of alcohol, which was a bad sign this early in the morning. Their unwashed appearance confirmed to Naruto that they were probably drunk from something last night, and hadn't stopped drinking until late, if at all. "What're you lookin' at eh? Brat." The same one slurred, pushing Naruto up against the fence, making him yelp as his dressing shifted. "Yeah, you better be scared." He said blearily, staring at Naruto with eyes that were red from lack of sleep.

"Hey…hey Makito…" One of the other four said, swaying slightly as he pointed at Naruto. "Ain't that the one who's'monster?" The others all turned to peer at Naruto, whose tears had vanished, and who was struggling to get free, disabled by his wounds in a way he was very unused to.

"Yeeaaah." The one pinning Naruto said, sneering at him. "So'tis."

"We'should…we should do…like…maybe'thing of…lesson! Teach'm lesson." Said a man who had his arm slung around a friend, unable to hold himself up. Normally this would have been no problem for Naruto, they were so drunk they could barely see straight, let alone punch straight, but the pain in his chest was becoming unbearable.

"Mayb' we shu-*hic*-ud…" The man called Makito stared menacingly at Naruto, one eye lid drooping shut, and pulled out a blade, raising it clumsily towards Naruto. Just as it came close to slashing Naruto's face - whether on purpose or not seemed uncertain, but close nonetheless - a shuriken spun at the blade, knocking it out of the man's hand.

"Hey, why don't you go home Makito." Came a familiar voice, cheerful yet threatening. "Looks like you spent all your wages on booze again. Your Missus wouldn't happen to know would she?" The drunk ninjas in front of Naruto stirred uncomfortably, and Naruto turned to see a boy his age, with red stripes down his cheeks, walking casually towards them, and happy looking dog plodding behind him.

"Kiba." Makito said, uttering the word like a slur, before releasing Naruto. "One o' these days, yer gonna learn notta stick yer nose in." He growled, before waving his friends along, and leaving Naruto panting against the wall, Kiba and Akamaru watching them go, before rushing over to the blonde.

"Geez Naruto, what's wrong? They're usually no big deal for you." Kiba said, looking worried.

"How'd you know I was here?" Naruto asked, leaning on the brunette's arm, guessing that their meeting hadn't been happenstance.

"Akamaru and I were out for a walk, and then he did that thing where he's smelt blood, so I followed him here, and…" Kiba trailed off, looking at Naruto's shirt, which was poking through his manhandled jacket. "Dude, you're bleeding." He said, looking shocked. "The fuck did those jerks do to you?"

"It wasn't them…" Naruto said, pulling his jacket closed, but still unable to walk properly.

"I can take you back to Sas-"

"No! I…I can't go back there right now."

"…If that fucking son of a bloody cat did this-"

"He didn't, he would never." Naruto said, sadness welling up inside him as he remembered Sasuke's face when he found him, regret filling him from their stupid argument that had only happened because he was hiding how much pain he was in.

"Then who?" Kiba demanded. "Tell me and I'll make sure they never walk again." Naruto laughed darkly. "I'm only half joking. I'm pretty serious about giving them what's coming to them."

"I…I can't tell you…" Naruto said, before sliding to the floor, and curling around his chest, trying not to cry, as the sobs hurt his wounds.

"This is insane. If I can't take you back there, I'm taking you to my house." Kiba said bluntly, picking Naruto up bridal style, so that he could still protect his chest, but so that he was held delicately in the air.

"Bloody hell, how strong _are_ you?" Naruto asked, his emotions briefly quelling with shock.

"Nah, I'm not strong, you're just really light. Now Akamaru, he's heavy." There was a disgruntled noise from the dog, who followed the pair as Kiba walked to his house.

"I remember when he was a puppy you carried around in your jumper." Naruto said, looking down at the now rather large dog, who smiled up at him with his tongue lolling out.

"Yeah…he still does that when I'm on the sofa. Apparently my lap and chest are the best beds in the world. Not that he cares that my legs and arms go dead." He gave the dog a significant look, and it wuffed gently at him in response. Naruto suddenly remembered how Sasuke had called him Akamaru just the other day because he wanted to sit on the raven's lap. The blonde went quiet at the memory, and Kiba noticed, but didn't feel like now was a good time to press the matter, so just carried the other boy home.

When they got into the house, Kiba's family were nowhere to be seen.

"Where is everyone?" Naruto asked, looking around as Kiba set him gently down on the floor.

"Out for a walk. We usually take out a few hours in the morning to stretch out and get some exercise, but during the holidays we sometimes go out a bit later and end up walking for the whole day. Plus it's good for the dogs." He said, ruffling Akamaru's head as the dog made happy grumbling noises. "We were out on ours when we came to you. Only just started, luckily. Otherwise I'd be in the forest somewhere."

"Didn't you go as a family then?" Naruto said, taking his boots off, and taking in the warm, slightly worn out house, with scratches and bits taken out of wooden walls and floors, not to mention decimated rugs and carpets.

"We started as a family, but then someone will smell something, someone will chase a squirrel, someone will go off with their lovey dovey couple nonsennnnnI mean…" Kiba trailed off as he saw Naruto's expression sadden. "…look, come on, I'll make you some soup for lunch. The rest won't be back until late knowing them. Plus…I think we need to talk." He said, plopping his bag down by the door, taking a wrapped up lunch for him and Akamaru out, and going into the kitchen. Naruto followed, and looked around. Like Sasuke's little house, the kitchen was connected to the living room with no wall in the way, so that the cook could easily talk to the people on the sofas. Everything was slightly less destroyed in this room, though there were still plenty of signs of wear and tear. Naruto sank gratefully into a sofa facing the kitchen, and let Akamaru gently snuggle up next to him.

"What soup are you making?" He asked, as Kiba bent down under a shelf.

"Chicken and noodle. I know you like ramen, so noodles are kind of the same right? We have some in the fridge somewhere, there were leftovers from yesterday." He pulled out a large metal saucepan from what Naruto assumed was the fridge, and peered inside. "Cool, that's plenty." He said, decanting some into a smaller pan so that he could reheat it, and putting the rest back.

It didn't take long to heat up, and soon Naruto was presented with a bowl of steaming, orange soup, with noodles and chicken floating in it. It smelt amazing, and Naruto was soon devouring it. Forgetting about this mornings incident, he allowed himself to be consumed by the flavour; the softness of the meat, the seasoning in the sauce - which had in turn soaked up some of the chicken's flavour, giving away that bones had been boiled for stock - the texture of noodles in a broth adding a different layer to it, all saturated in salty, meaty, and tomato flavoured stock. It was perfect.

Naruto leant back when he was done, allowing his food to settle, but soon became aware that Kiba was staring at him.

"What?" Naruto asked nervously, his relaxed body tensing up again.

"Tell me what happened." Kiba said, and it wasn't a request.

Naruto looked away, worry running across his face.

"Naruto, you're bleeding, won't let me see why, won't tell me what happened, won't go back to Sasuke, won't tell me why you won't do that either…I will set Tsunade on you if you don't start explaining." Naruto looked at him in panic.

"No, no you can't! You don't understand, I just…I just…" Naruto burst into tears, clutching his head, letting Akamaru sit up and try and lick his face in concern. Kiba sighed, and pressed his knuckles into his forehead, before facing Naruto again.

"Not that I would actually carry that threat out, but why would telling the old hag be the end of the world?" He asked, looking worried.

"I…just…wanted…christmas…to…be…right…" Naruto sobbed, and Kiba crossed over to him, pulling his hands away from his head, and making the blonde look him in the eye, meeting two blue orbs swimming with sadness and guilt.

"Fucking hell Naruto, I know it's your first Christmas, but if something's gone wrong, you need to tell someone." Kiba's words were harsh, but his expression and tone were soft and comforting.

"I did…" Naruto said roughly.

"Who?"

"Sakura. But she swore she wouldn't tell."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to ruin Christmas."

"And how is running away from Sasuke not a ruined Christmas." Naruto looked at him, tears running down his face, and whispered softly.

"He said Christmas didn't matter."

"…well he's a dick, we knew that." Kiba said bluntly.

"No, no you don't-"

"I know, I know." Kiba said softly. "He's not a dick to you, he's actually a human being towards you. I just…I can't mesh the two together you know? He's a dick, and that's the sort of thing he'd say. But I know he's different to you. I guess I just don't understand what made him switch to being a dick to you as well." Kiba sighed, pulling Naruto into a gentle hug. "Why did he get so huffy? Doesn't he realise that this is your first Christmas with some semblance of family?" Naruto shook beneath him, clutching his shirt. "Look, I know you don't want to tell me, but…if something happened between you two…"

"He didn't do anything wrong before that." Naruto sobbed, wincing in pain.

"Like fuck he didn't." Kiba growled, before calming himself down as Naruto tensed up. "It's okay, I won't push anymore. Could…could you at least let me see your injuries?" Naruto shook his head resolutely, so Kiba pushed him up, again forcing eye contact. "Naruto, you're bleeding. I need to check it." Naruto pulled his jacket even more tightly shut, resisting Kiba's stare. "Please?" Akamaru leant over, and put his head on Naruto's lap, looking up with pleading eyes, and when Naruto looked at Kiba, he was pulling the exact same face, which looked a lot stupider on a human being. A small laugh escaped Naruto before he could stop it, and Kiba grinned. "That's permission. You laughed, I win!" He picked Naruto up again, making the boy yelp in shock, and Akamaru ran around them, wagging his tail and barking happily. "I get to undress Naruto!" Kiba sang, before smirking. "Sasuke would be so frickin' mad." He laughed, and Naruto despite his tension, felt himself relax around Kiba's bubbly self as he was carried upstairs.

The worry however returned once they were in Kiba's room, and he reluctantly took off his jacket and shirt. Underneath, the bandages around his chest were bloody, having been soaked through when Naruto had been shoved against the fence by the older man.

"This looks grim." Kiba said, trying to keep the mood light, but aware that the injuries looked serious. "At least it looks like someone did a good job of dressing you, Sakura's work I'm guessing?" Naruto nodded, not trusting himself to speak as Kiba slowly undid the bandages. "Lucky for you, I apparently have golden hands. Tsunade said she might teach me, it would be pretty damn useful wouldn't it? I could patch everyone up with ninjitsu instead of just…" Kiba's words suddenly stalled as Naruto's injuries were revealed, the slur just as red and bloody as ever, the gash looking unhappy, but still sealed with the steri-strips. But Kiba was staring at the lettering, looking appalled. Instinctively Naruto covered the words with his arms, but Kiba instead just stared at his face, his expression going from appalled to furious, to terror, to panic, to anger, and then finally back to pure rage. "Who."

"I…I can't…"

"This is fucking Sasuke's fault." Kiba spat, turning around and pulling out some clean bandages.

"It's not!" Naruto objected, pushing Kiba's arms away as he tried to dress the wounds. "It's nothing like that."

"Then why is it 'fag'? That shit knew he had admirers, and still he dragged you into…into…I don't see him with a slur cut across his chest." Kiba was spitting his words out, but his eyes glistened.

"Kiba, please…" Naruto said, losing his energy. Nodding, the other boy dropped it, and with incredible care dressed Naruto's wounds again, adding gauze to soak up the fresh blood. Naruto picked up his shirt when Kiba was done, but the brunette handed him one of his own tops, still not saying anything. "Thanks." Naruto said, pulling the T-shirt that was several sizes too big for him over his head, and being swamped by it. "…I love Sasuke." He said quietly. "I don't care if people hate me for it. I still want to be with him." Kiba nodded, sitting down beside the blonde, and biting his lip. Akamaru came over and rested his head on his companion's knee, letting the brunette bury his hand in the dog's fur.

"I know." He said finally. "…I just hate that this happens to you." He turned away, rubbing his face with his sleeve, before turning back to Naruto, and looking at him sadly. "He's still the reason you were out here 2 days before Christmas."

"I know. But…I'm here now." Naruto smiled slightly, and Kiba managed one in response.

"Come on, lets go downstairs."

Sasuke felt like he'd searched all of Konoha, three times, and still hadn't found a trace of Naruto. He'd been to Chouji's house, then Sakura's, and was now on his way to Kiba's in the hope he'd find him there. _I'll never forgive myself if something's happened to him again…_ he thought to himself, cursing under his breath as he jumped the gap between another two roofs. Barely anyone had been out, the weather getting more and more bitter as the day wore on. He hadn't realised how many corners and hidden areas the village had until he'd scoured the entire place in search of Naruto. Jumping down, he arrived at Kiba's house, which was strangely devoid of its usual sounds, suggesting everyone was out. Cursing again, Sasuke went up to the door in the hopes that someone, anyone, was home and could help him.

Ringing the bell, he heard a bark, and thanked fuck someone was in.

"Coming, coming." Came Kiba's voice, and the brunette opened the door, smiling, only for it to turn into a scowl as he set eyes on Sasuke. "You."

"Clearly Naruto has been here then." Sasuke said, glaring back at Kiba.

"What are you doing here?"

"I would have thought that would be clear from Naruto being here and the statement I just made."

"Fuck off." Kiba spat, and Sasuke crossed his arms.

"I'm not going until I see Naruto."

"And I'm not letting you in."

"Fine, I'll just wait here until someone else comes home and lets me in. Or you could wait out here to guarantee no one does, in which case I'll just keep asking the same question over and over until your ears bleed." Kiba glowered at the raven, and pulled the door slightly to behind him.

"Look, I don't know what the fuck is going on, but I can fucking bet it's your fault. And even if it isn't, telling him Christmas, his first Christmas, the one time he can actually celebrate it without being alone, rejected, and isolated…telling him it's worth fuck and all-"

"I meant compared to him!" Kiba frowned as Sasuke, who sighed, and spoke more quietly. "He got hurt, and since then won't touch me, or let me touch him, and keeps acting like he's fine when he's not. He wouldn't even let me see his injuries, and something is wrong, I _know_ it, but he won't talk to me." Sasuke sighed, looking at the setting sun. "It's almost dark, if he's not going to talk to me, maybe he'll talk to you." He turned to go, and Kiba felt torn. Him going was probably a good thing, but Naruto needed him, and needed to talk to him, but he'd promised he wouldn't dob Naruto in…making a snap decision, he called after Sasuke.

"Wait! Wait…" He looked back at the house, then eyed Sasuke carefully as the raven looked at him blankly. "Just…Naruto is asleep. I found him just before lunch, he…he's really upset, but…there's something I can't tell you…"

"I'm getting really fucking sick of people not telling me shit." Sasuke said, scowling at Kiba.

"Tell me about it." The brunette responded. "My point is…Naruto is upset, he's not in a great place…but…he could really do with you being there when he wakes up. Look…I don't like this, this is way beyond what I think is okay. But…just…stay the night. There's a spare room, it only mostly smells of dog. In the morning, I'll bring him down, and you two are going to fucking talk this out." Sasuke stared at him for a moment, then nodded, following him silently into the house.

"Can I at least see him?" He asked quietly, and Kiba eyed him briefly, before nodding, and leading him upstairs.

Naruto was fast asleep on Kiba's bed, wearing the baggy shirt, and cuddling up to a cushion. He had a pained expression on his face, and was muttering something in his sleep. Unable to stop himself, Sasuke crossed over and reached out, gently stroking Naruto's hair like he did when the blonde had a bad dream. The smaller boy's expression immediately softened and relaxed, a faint smile on his lips. Sasuke couldn't stop himself smiling in response, before he lifted up his hand, and with one last look, followed Kiba down to the spare bedroom, preparing himself for an uneasy night's sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto woke up the next morning with sunlight streaming through the window. Looking blearily around, he realised that this wasn't his and Sasuke's bedroom. There were stuffed animals and dog toys littered around, with comics stacked on shelves beside photographs of Kiba and Akamaru as they grew up together.

The blonde smiled softly, everything felt warm and comfortable, and there was a gentle weight on his legs. Looking down he saw Akamaru asleep at the foot of the bed, but he also saw Kiba cuddled up with the dog, somehow having moved around in his sleep so that he was at the other end of the bed. _How long have I been asleep for?_ Naruto wondered, remembering falling asleep early yesterday, just around the time it had started to get dark. He started to shift, slightly sitting up, and saw someone else in the room. His heart leapt as he realised Sasuke was asleep against the bedroom door, leaning on a shelf, slumped slightly from what Naruto assumed had been a sitting position. Sasuke had come after him, had found him, and was there guarding him, just like before.

Naruto carefully got out of bed, his chest feeling painful, but stinging slightly less, and he crossed over to Sasuke, feet padding lightly on the soft carpet, unheard by the raven. Slowly Naruto leant down beside Sasuke, and lay across the raven so that his head was in his boyfriends lap. A distinct feeling of calmness washed over Naruto as he smelt Sasuke's familiar warm scent, and he nuzzled against the raven's leg, which he realised were still in pyjama bottoms, much like Naruto's. He must have been looking for him all of yesterday since he left. A small bubble of guilt welled up in Naruto, and he clung to the raven's clothes, seeking comfort. As tears formed in his eyes, a hand gently stroked his hair, soothing him, and he rolled over slightly so that he looked up into two deep, onyx eyes.

"Hey baka." Sasuke said quietly, a small, soft smile on his lips.

"Hey teme." Naruto responded equally quietly, looking happily up at him. They sat in silence for a while, Naruto closing his eyes as Sasuke ran his hands through the blonde locks, but Sasuke couldn't hold it for long, as regret bubbled up inside him. He'd woken up this morning earlier than normal, having had a restless night without Naruto beside him. He had thought that it would be fine, as he used to sleep alone before, but apparently his body was now conditioned to need cuddles and company at night. When he'd been unable to sleep any more that morning, he'd got up and gone to Kiba's room, sitting down by the door to wait for Naruto to wake up, but even just hearing Naruto's not-so-quiet sleep breathing had made him feel more relaxed, and he'd drifted off. When he'd been woken up by something cuddling his lap, he had felt something in his chest squeeze, and sadness mixed with joy had washed over him. Now, looking down at the dozing blonde, he had to speak; he couldn't let this go on.

"Naruto…" He began, and two blue eyes looked up at him anxiously. "I'm sorry for what I said. It was tactless, and stupid, and selfish…" He paused, trying to find the right words. "…I was trying to say that Christmas wasn't as important as you. I…I do care about Christmas, but only because you care. But I'm not about to sacrifice your wellbeing for some tinsel and baubles." Naruto looked away, and Sasuke felt worry run through him. "Something is wrong, Kiba is mad at me, Sakura won't talk to me about it either, I feel like everyone knows something I don't and I…" He forced himself to carry on, even though he felt his voice shake, "…I'm scared."

Naruto looked up at him, guilt all across his face.

"I'm sorry." Naruto said, unable to stop regret swimming in his eyes. "I didn't mean to make you feel like this. I promise I'll tell you…but after Christmas, okay?"

"Naruto…" Sasuke began, unable to keep the frustration out of his voice, but suddenly there were howls and barks from throughout the house, and Akamaru perked up his ears, before raising his head and joining in loudly.

"Ugh, Akamaru…" Groaned Kiba. "Couldn't you tell that they were actually getting somewhere?" He rolled over, looking at the pair apologetically as the dog bounced up and began play tugging at his human, barking noisily. Sasuke scowled, having hoped to have this moment just between him and Naruto, but the blonde laughed, and the raven couldn't help but relax at the sound.

"COME ON EVERYONE!" Yelled a voice from downstairs. "IT'S CHRISTMAS EVE!"

"ALRIGHT, WE'RE UP!" Kiba yelled back, as did several voices from around the house, as if anyone would actually be able to sleep through the din that the dogs were making. Reluctantly, Sasuke and Naruto got up and followed Kiba and Akamaru downstairs, where Kiba's family were all stumbling into the kitchen living room as his sister, Hana - a cheerful woman with the same fang markings as Kiba, her hair tied back in a ponytail - loudly corralled the family.

"Come on everyone." She called as the family began to set about making breakfast. "No long walks today, we've got a Christmas to prepare for!" She grinned at Kiba as he entered, and came over to ruffle his hair. "Alright there sleepy head?" She grinned.

"Yeah, where's mum?" He asked, looking around.

"She's gone to get food for tomorrow. I suggested it, as she's not really into decorating. Now go on, get the Christmas tree from the garden." She steered him towards the back door, just giving him time to grab his coat. "Right." She put her hands on her hips and beamed at Sasuke and Naruto. "You two, I'm going to recruit you to the decorating team. The aim of the game is to have the house decorated by the time mum gets back, otherwise she'll be all grumpy and tell us not to put anymore up." She picked up a large cardboard box and handed it to Sasuke, who looked uncertainly at her from behind it. "Don't give me that look." She chided, handing a much smaller box to Naruto. "Off you go now, hallway and stairs need Christmas vomit all over them." The blonde cackled, and Sasuke gave her a judgmental look, but she just smiled and bounced off to manage the rest of the family.

"Are we seriously doing this?" Sasuke asked, and Naruto grinned at him.

"Definitely. Come on, they have way more Christmas decorations than us!"

"I don't know, you seem to materialise more whenever I'm not looking."

"Yeah, well…nyeh." Naruto stuck his tongue out at Sasuke and led the way back through to the hall.

They spent the morning putting up wreaths, bells, and Christmas lights, wrapping the banisters in a thick layer of tinsel, hanging decorations off the walls where handy nails had been put in, and stringing ribbons across the ceiling and doorways. By the time they got to lunch, it was looking, in Sasuke's opinion, disgustingly Christmassy. Naruto however was in heaven. He had enjoyed decorating their little house, but working with a family - despite the brief feuds and arguments - was wonderful. People kept offering to help reach up when Naruto's wounds stopped him being able to, and everyone was happy to take turns being the one carrying the boxes of decorations around after the decorators. Kiba came in midway through the morning with a huge Christmas tree that dwarfed the living room, and people began stringing it with multicoloured lights, more baubles, and little figurines. Mince pies were handed around, alongside pigs in blankets, and mulled juices, with spiced wine for those who weren't underage. Lunchtime was cranberry and ham toasties, with hot chocolate to drink, and savoury biscuits to follow as snacks. Naruto found himself flagging halfway through the day as his injuries got the better of him, so he found himself curled up on the sofa with Sasuke.

"Hey, Hana?" Kiba asked, spotting Naruto looking jealously at the people still plastering the house in colours. "Can Naruto be in charge of tree decoration with Sasuke?"

"I don't think Naruto can get up right now." Sasuke said, before the blonde could agree, earning him a glare from his boyfriend.

"Oh, that's fine!" Hana said, appearing from behind a stack of presents she was gathering together. "Naruto can direct Sasuke." The blonde beamed at her, and Sasuke sighed in resignation, getting up and pulling out a box of tinsel.

"Okay, what where?" He asked, and Naruto began to direct. After a while, the rest of the family wandered back to other parts of the house - either to do more decorations, or to finish last minute wrapping - and they found themselves alone. Sasuke found himself trying to work out a gentle way of getting Naruto to open up. "Naruto…" He asked, placing a purple bauble underneath some silver tinsel as the blonde put hooks on the balls.

"Mhm?" Naruto responded, looking up cheerfully, only for his expression to waver slightly.

"I…I know this is fun…but…" He struggled to speak slightly, worried about upsetting this happy time. "…I want to have a nice Christmas with you, and I want you to enjoy it. And if you're unwell, or hurt, or suffering…I don't feel like we can truly have the best Christmas. I…I know you're mad at me, for not being there for you the other day…"

"No!" Naruto said, but Sasuke held up a hand, silencing him, before turning to fiddle with a small paper shuriken decoration.

"I…I'm angry at myself as well, I know it was my fault, if I'd stuck with you, and not been distracted by petty things-"

"Sasuke…"

"Please, Naruto, that's…that's why I got angry about Christmas being stupid. Because I'd been so focussed on making it right that…I hadn't been able to just enjoy being with you. And as a result, you got hurt." Sasuke looked up forlornly at Naruto, who had a pained expression on his face, as if he was fighting something internally.

"I'm not mad at you." He said finally, and Sasuke frowned in confusion.

"But you didn't want me there when Sakura was treating your injuries."

"That's not why." Naruto rubbed his head in frustration. "I didn't want you there because I knew you'd blame yourself, but…it looks like you did that anyway. But it really wasn't your fault." Naruto gave Sasuke a determined look, and got up, crossing the room so that he was in front of Sasuke, reaching out to hold Sasuke's shirt, his hands burying themselves in the soft fabric so that he could feel the raven's hard torso underneath. "I love you, and I'm trying to protect our first Christmas together. But I'm making a fucking hash of it."

"Feels like we both are." Sasuke said, putting down the shuriken and reaching out to hold Naruto's cheek in his palm. "Please…let me check your wounds? They're still hurting you, and there was so much blood on your shirt from the day it happened…I just want to…to…" Sasuke reached out and touched Naruto's chest, making the blonde wince ever so slightly, before he moved his hand down to where the tattoo was. Naruto shivered slightly at the touch as Sasuke slid his hand under the top, caressing his hipbone and tracing the line of his pyjama bottoms, slipping under the waistband.

"Sasuke…" Naruto whispered, leaning forwards to rest his head on the raven's shoulder. "What if someone sees?"

"If you don't want me to…" Sasuke said, pulling his hand back, but Naruto pushed forwards so that they were in contact again, making the raven chuckle. "Someone's a bit eager." Sasuke smirked. Naruto moaned happily as cold hands slid down his boxers, thumbing his crotch, and making him harden slightly. The raven leant forwards and kissed Naruto's neck, before scraping his teeth along the skin, pulling a slight 'ah!' out of the blonde. He smirked, and slid his tongue up to Naruto's ear, before gently biting and pulling it, his breath tickling the skin, and bringing goose bumps up all along it. Naruto made a whimpering sound as he gripped Sasuke's shirt, and buried his flushing face in his boyfriend's shoulder. "Is that nice?" Sasuke whispered, breathing warm air along Naruto's flesh, and making him gasp. "Then tell me what's wrong." Sasuke said, pulling his hands back, and making Naruto moan in frustration.

"You're cheating." The blonde grumbled, feeling hot.

"I do that." Sasuke chuckled darkly. He wrapped his arms around Naruto's waist, and pulled him close, so that he could feel the blonde relax, and lean against him. "I was worried you…didn't want me to touch you anymore." He admitted, and Naruto couldn't help laughing.

"You're an idiot."

"You jumped away when I bit your neck."

"That's because your timing is the worst, you get horny when you're stressed."

"Yeah well…I'm holding back right now am I not?" Naruto turned his head so that he looked up at Sasuke from his shoulder.

"Well yes, but I'm not so sure that's a good thing. If we found a bedroom I'd be quite happy to…you know…"

"Exactly. It's my bargaining chip." Sasuke smirked as Naruto pouted, and nuzzled into his boyfriend's hair. "Come on, what's the harm in telling me?" Naruto's body tensed slightly, and when he looked down, the blonde wouldn't make eye contact. "Naruto…you're really starting to worry me…" Sasuke said nervously.

"I don't want to ruin Christmas…"

"How would it be your fault? Did you do something stupid? Was it in anyway your fault?"

"…no…"

"Then why would it ruin Christmas?"

"Because…it's really bad…" Naruto turned his head so that it was hidden in the shirt, and Sasuke sighed.

"I can't promise not to get angry, but I can promise it won't be at you. Please?" Naruto didn't respond, but Kiba did, having just walked in on them.

"Naruto, you know I dislike Sasuke more than I dislike pickled ginger…but for fuck's sake, just let us help." The two boys looked over at Kiba, who crossed his arms. "And less of the hanky panky in my living room thanks." Naruto flushed, and pushed away from Sasuke, who held on to him, smirking.

"What, like this?" Sasuke leant over and pressed his lips against the blonde's, kissing him deeply, gently poking his tongue against his lips, requesting entry. At first this was resisted, but as he massaged Naruto's mouth, the blonde melted into the embrace, and allowed him to stroke the roof of his mouth, sending shivers down the blonde's spine. They broke apart breathlessly, and Naruto was a deep shade of scarlet.

"Are you done yet?" Kiba asked in an unimpressed tone, tapping his foot, arms crossed. "Because you have an audience." Sasuke looked around to see several dogs looking at him, some with tilted heads, others with tongues hanging out as they watched in oblivious cheer.

"Sasuke!" Naruto croaked, and the raven smirked, letting Naruto stand up properly, and get himself in order.

"Feel like telling me yet?" Sasuke asked, but Naruto pushed him back, placing his fingers over his lips.

"I feel wobbly as fuck thanks, teme." Naruto grumbled, sitting down on the floor, and letting his hair fall over his eyes.

"…so…you didn't…?" Sasuke said uncertainly.

"…I did…it was nice…" Naruto mumbled, and Sasuke allowed himself to smile.

"HOLY FUCK!" Kiba cried out, pointing in horror at Sasuke, who shot him a glare, as Naruto looked up in alarm. "THE ICE KING…S…S…SMILED!" He put a hand to his forehead in faux dramatic shock. "I don't think I'll ever live to understand this."

"Then please, by all means, fuck off." Sasuke said icily, and Kiba grinned at him cheekily.

"Hey now, this is my house." His expression changed suddenly, as if something had just jumped into his mind. "Fuck, I forgot to say, mum will be home soon, and as much of a warm ray of sunshine as she is, you might want to go home before she gets here. I can walk you guys back though." Naruto and Sasuke nodded as Kiba got ready and prepared things for them, including some leftover mince pies and nibbles.

Naruto followed the other two reluctantly out into the cold, looking longingly at the house where dogs were running back and forth chasing each other as the family called to one another, carrying wrapped presents and stockings through the hall. The door shut behind them, and they were wrapped in silence as darkness crept through the village.

Naruto hurried to walk beside Sasuke, keeping close to him in the strange stillness that was settling. At first it felt ominous, but soon it felt welcome, and exciting. This was Christmas Eve. Tomorrow was Christmas day. Naruto grinned happily, and leant on Sasuke.

"Merry Christmas Eve." He said quietly.

"That's…not even a thing." Sasuke replied, smirking.

"Totally is." Naruto said stubbornly.

Sasuke smiled and let Naruto hang off him as they walked through the deserted village, Kiba and Akamaru leading the way. All too soon, they were back at the house, where Kiba bade them goodbye and left them to go into the estate. Sasuke took out the keys and went into the grounds, where a large Christmas tree appeared to have been erected during the day, sparkling with little golden lights, and stretching up above the rooftops. By their door, they discovered a note on top of some boxes.

 _"To our dear master Sasuke and his wonderful companion Naruto._

 _These are some gifts we have prepared for you, we were hoping to give them to you in person, but you were not in this morning, or this afternoon. We hope you have had a wonderful Christmas Eve, and will accept these for tomorrow. All of us here on the estate came together to choose and obtain these presents, and do not worry, we expect nothing in return. We only hope that you enjoy tomorrow. This is the first time, master Sasuke, that you have seemed to eagerly await Christmas, and we believe this to be your influence, Naruto. We are also aware that this is Naruto's first Christmas with a family, and would like to offer that if you have no plans for the evening, you may wish to spend it with us in the main house's staff quarters. We appreciate that you most likely have plans, but in case you don't, the offer stands. No one should have a Christmas meal alone._

 _We hope that this Christmas brings you much joy._

 _Regards,_

 _The household staff."_

The note was signed by all of the members of staff, with a few personal messages from the butler, the gardener, the housekeeper, and the boy who did errands. Naruto peered down at the note and smiled happily.

"That's lovely. I know we're having lunch with Kiba, Sakura, Ino, Hinata, Chouji…um…"

"That lot." Sasuke provided, earning him a judgemental look from Naruto.

"Yes, but…we could totally drag them to the main house to meet everyone." Sasuke looked at Naruto, who was smiling slightly at the note, and felt warm inside.

"That would be nice." He said, picking up the boxes. They made their way into the dark house, shuffling in the hallway as they shut the door, the only light coming from the main room where - as they walked in - they saw the tree lit up with multicoloured lights.

"This is it." Naruto breathed. "Christmas Eve." He smiled, and trotted over to the tree, turning on the low lighting so that they could see where they were going. Naruto helped unpack the presents that had been nestled in the boxes, putting them beside their own ones for each other, which had been there for several days. There were a few others, like the ones from Sakura, Ino, Shikamaru, and Hinata, all of whom had brought their things over earlier. Kiba, Shino, and Chouji had promised to bring things with them when they came on Christmas day.

Sasuke went over to the kitchen and pulled out the food so that it could defrost on the side, putting the meat in the fridge, and opening a window to let in some air, before sitting down on the sofa as Naruto lay down on him, turning on the TV to watch a movie.

Time passed easily, the night drawing to a close, until Naruto had watched all he could bear in the excitement of Christmas being just hours away.

He looked at Sasuke, happiness on his face, only for it to change to confusion as he realised how sad Sasuke looked.

"What's wrong?" He asked, as Christmas carols drifted in through the open window.

"I…don't understand why you don't trust me. Why you won't trust me." Sasuke stroked Naruto's hair lightly, expression full of regret. "It's like…I've done something wrong. And no matter how much you tell me I haven't…I still feel like I have." Naruto looked up, feeling guilty. This was exactly what he had been trying to avoid, but it wasn't working. He looked back at the darkened TV, his and Sasuke's reflections showing up as shadows, the Christmas lights glimmering near them.

"I…I'll let you see my injuries." Naruto said, making up his mind. "But you have to stay calm. I…couldn't bear it if you left me on Christmas Eve."

"Why would I leave you?" Sasuke said in confusion, uncomfortably aware that it felt like his heart had just leapt up into his throat.

"Revenge…shame…guilt…anger…" Naruto listed quietly. "I don't know how you're going to react…so I just…need you to stay."

Sasuke looked down at him, and waited for those blue eyes to turn back to his onyx ones, before nodding.

"I'll stay right here. I promise." He couldn't help his stomach churning. What was so terrible? It had bled so much…but Naruto's powers meant he healed fast, so surely by now it would be scabbing over, or at least healing slightly? Naruto slowly lifted his top, and Sasuke stared at him as he saw some blood spots coming through the bandages just above his belly. Fear gripped him - this wasn't right, Naruto should have stopped bleeding by now. He reached forward a hand, silently questioning, and Naruto nodded, letting him help unwrap the wound. He stared in ever growing horror as the bandages unwound, and more blood spots appeared, slowly looking more and more distinct, and less and less like random slashes. He didn't want it to be what he thought it was, but by the time they got to the last layer, he was certain it was a word.

The bandages, bloody and damp, fell to the floor with the gauze. A slight trail of blood dribbled down from the slur, and from the deep gash, which looked angry and red - not healing at anything near the speed of Naruto's usual wounds - but finally appearing to clot after two whole days. Sasuke stared in horror, the word standing out to him like a curse that had been carved into the one he loved so much. Somewhere bells rang through the village, as midnight struck. It was Christmas. Finally. And now he finally knew. And it _hurt_. For the first time in many, _many_ years, tears formed in Sasuke's eyes. He grabbed Naruto, pulling him into a hug and holding him close, unable to hold back a small sob. The blonde reached up his arms, and clung to Sasuke's shirt. He felt small and vulnerable to Sasuke, who couldn't even think how to protect him.

"I promised I wouldn't leave." Sasuke said, finally, his cheeks damp. "And I won't. Fuck them, fuck them _all_. I fucking _hate_ them. I won't let them get away with this, _I swear it_."

"Please." Naruto whispered, tears forming in his own eyes at how distressed Sasuke was. "I just want us to have a good Christmas."

"And I promise you we will." Sasuke choked out. "I will get them, and I will destroy them. But they will not take away our Christmas. I will make this the best, fucking, damn, bloody Christmas you have EVER had." Naruto squeezed Sasuke back, and smiled through his tears.

"Thank you." He whispered, as they heard people in the distance singing 'silent night' to gently usher in Christmas day.


	4. Chapter 4

Soft songs were playing in the background, and Naruto felt stiff and tired, but somehow still warm and comfortable. He'd fallen asleep on the sofa with Sasuke, as they had curled around one another, and Christmas had arrived. After the revelation, Sasuke had clung to him, uttering determined statements like 'and we'll have mince pies, and everyone will love them.' Or 'We'll watch a Christmas movie, and everyone will cry, but only because it's lovely, not because anyone is sad.' Naruto had calmed him down, and assured him that Christmas would be perfect, suddenly finding himself in the role of comforter instead of weak and helpless victim. It actually felt better - doing something, reassuring someone - rather than just feeling small and pathetic. Sasuke had dressed his wounds again, and passed him Kiba's oversized T-shirt, turning on the TV so that Christmas music played gently in the background, soothing them both. Naruto had fallen asleep first, and vaguely remembered Sasuke getting up and returning with a warm blanket to wrap around them both. Now looking at the raven's face, it was finally relaxed, the calm bliss of sleep giving him the peace he so needed. Naruto smiled, and stroked the dark locks away from his face so that he could see his lids flutter slightly. Slowly the eyes opened, dark onyx giving him its usual penetrating gaze.

"Morning." Naruto said quietly. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas." Sasuke said, smiling happily. "We should open our stockings."

"But neither of us put anything in each…" He looked up at the wall by the tree, where their stockings hung, full to bursting. "…How…?"

"Ninja Santa." Sasuke grinned, and at a glare from Naruto added, "Otherwise known as Iruka. Ages ago he said he'd give us stockings, and I challenged him to do it without waking either of us up. I think he won." Naruto beamed at him, and struggled up, only to be pulled back down. "Hey, Christmas kiss first." Sasuke demanded.

"But presents!" Naruto exclaimed, glancing over at the overloaded socks.

"Kiss." Sasuke said resolutely, and Naruto stuck his tongue out, only for Sasuke to lean up and lick it, making the blonde yelp.

"Ew!" He said, glaring.

"Hey, you don't mind it when I do it in your mouth." Sasuke smirked, and Naruto felt colour rising in his cheeks. Sasuke brought a hand up, his expression softening, and caressed Naruto's cheek with a finger, tracing his jaw line, and running his nail down the blonde's neck, making him shiver. Naruto leant down, eyes half closed, and let Sasuke's mouth embrace his own. His tongue entwined the raven's, and warmth spread through him as Sasuke chuckled against his lips. They broke apart and Naruto took in a deep breath, having forgotten to during the kiss, making Sasuke laugh again. "Baka." He grinned.

"Teme." Naruto panted back, before grinning. "Stockings."

"Alright, alright." Sasuke said, reluctantly letting Naruto get up and fetch the bundles. They sat on the sofa as Naruto began delving into his sock, enthusiastically pulling out sweets, treats and tangerines, and tearing off the wrapping of some new kunai, stationary, and some gloves. He happily showed them to Sasuke, who was opening his much more slowly. Naruto was so delighted, so happy, Sasuke couldn't help smiling, even if something inside of him felt squeezed and hurt.

Naruto turned on the TV, watching cartoons about Christmas day, and laughing at the terrible jokes that only adults would get. The raven finished pulling out the last tangerine and a bag of chocolate coins, placing them with the rest of his loot. Looking behind him, he remembered the food needed preparing. He started to get up, only for Naruto to gently tug at his sleeve.

"Hm?" He asked, looking down in confusion.

"Can…can we sit for a bit…" Naruto said, looking away.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke said, sitting back down.

"I want Christmas to be right…I don't want you to be cooking and me to just be sitting here watching TV…" Sasuke smiled, and wrapped his arm around the smaller boy, pulling him in close, and burying his face in the golden hair.

"Let's do Christmas together then. Come on. Help me make the food." Naruto looked up, eyes shining with happiness.

"Yeah! Lets!"

Naruto and Sasuke spent the morning chopping vegetables, Naruto playing cheerful music, giving in to Sasuke's desperation, and putting on film soundtracks instead of Christmas songs or carols. The blonde still hummed along, but much more in tune to the music than the songs he'd sung before, as the tune went from slow to bouncing, making Sasuke smile gently. Halfway through peeling the potatoes he yelped as he sliced his finger, and there was a small rush as Sasuke berated him whilst running it under water, before drying it and placing a plaster over the small wound. Naruto was then banned from peeling, and sulked in the corner for a while until Sasuke caved, and passed him the brussel sprouts to chop and tidy up whilst he minced some herbs. The kitchen began to smell delicious, and Naruto bothered the raven until he made some mulled apple juice, which Naruto drank happily sitting on the side as Sasuke explained how he was going to cook the turkey, asking for input on what flavourings to put in the stuffing. There was a brief moment where Naruto couldn't stop laughing at Sasuke sticking his hand up the backside of a turkey, earning him a withering look, before the raven commented on how he should try that with Naruto, after all, it felt quite pleasant, which made the blonde blush furiously as he spluttered in his drink. Soon the food was prepared, and in various oven trays in the oven, or in pots or pans on the stove. Sasuke washed his hands, and ran his fingers through his hair.

"I need to change." He commented, realising he'd been in these clothes for far longer than he would have liked.

"I should probably do that…" Naruto agreed, and they headed upstairs. Naruto undressed, his bandages still white from last night, and pulled a yellow t-shirt over his head, slipping into comfortable orange trousers. Sasuke was pulling his top off behind him, having changed his trousers already, and when Naruto caught sight of his pale skin, he found himself staring again. He could never quite get over how perfect the raven's skin looked. Sasuke caught him staring, and smirked.

"Like what you see?" He taunted.

"Oh shut up, you know I do." Naruto grumbled, looking away. But suddenly Sasuke was in front of him, shirtless, and close, a hand reaching out to caress Naruto's hip.

"We have the house to ourselves for a little longer." Sasuke whispered.

"Sasuke…the food, and what if someone's early…" Naruto said in a hushed voice as Sasuke's hands slipped under his clothes, pulling him close, and sliding around the small of his back. He leant forwards, and rested his head on Sasuke's collar bone, pressing his hands against the warm, firm skin on Sasuke's chest, tracing the muscles. Sasuke chuckled, vibrations running through him and into Naruto's head and hands, making a rolling shiver run through him. Sasuke's hands began seeking flesh, drawing lines down under Naruto's boxers, gently curling forwards until they found particularly warm flesh by Naruto's crotch, fingers running lightly yet certainly down the length of Naruto's penis, rubbing the tip slightly so that the member began to twitch and respond, hardening as Naruto moaned out loud, feeling weak as Sasuke pushed him backwards against the cupboard, and began to rub faster and harder, drawing out a gasp of pleasure from the blonde as electricity shot through him. Sasuke began to press his body against Naruto's, strength and warmth melting the blonde into his arms. "Please…" He begged, and Sasuke smirked, knowing what he wanted, slowly sliding down, lifting Naruto's shirt, and kissing the tattoo's, moving lower and lower in a line towards his crotch, sucking gently just above his trouser hem. Naruto pulled the offending item of clothing down, cold air making him come out in goose bumps, Sasuke's breath caressing the bare skin. His lips brushed the member, tongue poking out so that he lightly stroked it, making Naruto put a hand up to his forehead as the sensations overwhelmed him.

Then the doorbell rang.

"No!" Naruto gasped, frustration bubbling through him as he silently begged Sasuke to continue.

"We have to go down." Sasuke said, looking up at the blonde.

"They're early, they can bloody wait." Naruto said breathlessly. Sasuke gave Naruto a sly smile, then licked his penis, sucking gently on the veins, making Naruto whimper. He hummed gently against the skin, and Naruto's member hardened even more, becoming torpid and sensitive.

"NARUTO, SASUKE, WE'RE HERE!" Came a yell from outside, and Naruto groaned in despair. But Sasuke wasn't about to give up. He slid the length of it into his mouth, and began to suck, bobbing up and down, teasing it with his tongue, and gently using his teeth to add friction. The blonde gasped, clutching at Sasuke's hair as his hips tried to push forward, but were pinned by Sasuke's strong arms, gripped in position as the pleasure built higher and higher.

"I'm…oh god…Sasuke…" Naruto panted, heat welling up inside him until what felt like pinpricks of light spilled over, and he cried out, ejecting into Sasuke's mouth. The raven swallowed, and released Naruto with one final lick. The blonde slid down to the floor, his face flushed, but wearing a blissful expression.

"Better?" Sasuke asked, looking smug.

"You're mean." Naruto said, wincing slightly. "I'll have you know I'm injured." Sasuke smiled at him softly, and brushed some blonde hair away from his eyes.

"I hoped this would prove that I'm not going to let that affect us."

Naruto looked at him, seeing that beyond the smugness, beyond the lust and care, there was a hint of uncertainty, something akin to doubt. SO the blonde smiled, and leant forwards, resting his head on Sasuke's shoulder, running his fingers along the pale skin.

"This is going to be the best Christmas ever." He said happily.

"GUYS, STOP FUCKING AND LET US IN." Kiba's voice yelled.

"Kiba!" Came Sakura's voice, admonishing him.

"What? That's probably what they're doing." Kiba retorted.

"Come on." Sasuke said, helping Naruto up as they went to the bathroom to clean up. After that, they quickly made their way downstairs, Sasuke pulling on a blue top as he did so, and opening the front door as Naruto lurked shyly behind him.

"Finally!" Kiba said, grinning at them with armfuls of presents, Akamaru, Sakura, Hinata, Ino and Chouji standing behind him. "Shikamaru and Shino will be here in a bit, Shino hadn't finished wrapping presents, something about a bird getting trapped in their living room and causing chaos all night." Everyone came inside, depositing shoes by the door, and wandering into the warm, welcoming living room.

"Wow, Naruto, you really did a number on this place!" Sakura said, admiring the decorations.

"Sasuke said I used too many." He replied, sticking his tongue out at his boyfriend.

"You can't use too many, no such thing." Kiba said bluntly, putting his additions under the tree.

"Sasuke, you have to admit it looks nice." Ino said, sitting down with Sakura.

"I smell something delicious!" Chouji said, sniffing the air, and Naruto grinned at him.

"We made turkey, sausages, and roast vegetables!" He went over to the side where they'd prepared some pigs in blankets and mince pies for everyone to munch on whilst food finished cooking.

"Do you have red currant jam to go with it?" Chouji asked, looking over at the food.

"…no…" Naruto said, his smile falling.

"I thought you might not." His friend said, pulling out a jar from his pocket. "I brought some. Tradition and all that." Naruto beamed at him, and carried over the nibbles, taking the jam and putting it on the side by the oven.

"Sasuke asked me to bring crackers." Sakura said, smiling as she pulled them out of her bag.

"And I brought some bread sauce!" Ino joined in, as they presented their items to Sasuke.

"I have the Christmas pudding you asked for." Hinata said quietly, handing it over to Sasuke.

"Is there anything else missing?" Kiba asked, leaning back next to the tree. "Because I think my family has a surplus of everything. God, this morning was chaos. I'm glad I could escape for lunch."

"Yeah. My family expect me back for dinner as well." Sakura said, looking grumpy.

"It's okay, my parents are visiting my grouchy old grandparents." Ino smiled. "I can come back with you if you like?" Sakura looked up in surprise, then smiled.

"That would be wonderful." She said happily.

They all happily chatted for a while, then the doorbell rang, and Shino and Shikamaru joined them, Shino adding his presents to the now quite large pile. They all joined in with serving lunch, piling their plates up with crispy potatoes, bacon mixed brussel sprouts, roasted root vegetables, slices of soft, juicy turkey with piles of stuffing, perfect sausages, and various sauces, whilst Akamaru looked excitedly at the bowl Kiba was filling for him.

"This is amazing." Chouji said, stuffing his face.

"Mmm, you really did well on this." Shikamaru said, happily filling his mouth with potato.

"Yeah, the turkey is gorgeous." Sakura hummed.

"The carrots and parsnips…are they flavoured with rosemary?" Ino asked, looking at one whilst she swallowed a mouthful.

"Yeah, and a bit of paprika and lemon." Sasuke said, smiling at her, making her blush slightly.

"Hey, Kiba, are you not eating your sprouts?" Hinata asked gently, and the boy looked up.

"What? Oh, yeah, I am. Eventually. I just want to enjoy the meat on it's own first. I'll mix it in later."

"You…" Sasuke stared at him for a moment, then shook his head. Not even thinking about the idea of mixing up the food into one mushed up mess.

Naruto fidgeted as he finished eating, glancing over at the TV, and looking meaningfully at Sasuke as the general hubbub died down as everyone focussed on their food. Sasuke eyed him suspiciously, then understood, and sighed, nodding.

"YEAH, CHRISTMAS TV!" Naruto beamed, turning it on and going to serve everyone mulled juice as a heart-warming film came on. They all chatted throughout it, laughing at the cringe worthy bits, and placing bets on what would happen next, cheering every time they were right. Chatting descended into games, and everyone's competitive spirit came out. Shikamaru seemed to have the best tactics, but Kiba had unusual skills that sped him ahead, whilst Sasuke didn't even seem to be trying.

Naruto at one point needed the loo, so hurried upstairs to relieve himself. When he came out, Sakura was lurking in the hallway waiting for him.

"Naruto…" She began awkwardly. "…I know…I know you didn't want to spoil Christmas…but I really think Sasuke should know. He's obviously concerned, he keeps looking at you and-"

"He knows." Naruto said, sitting down on the top step, rubbing his head.

"He does?" Sakura asked, joining him.

"Yeah. He…got really upset, but…I think it's okay."

"He still keeps watching you, like you're going to break." She said uncertainly.

"I know." Naruto said, allowing himself to admit that things weren't all happy and perfect. "I don't know how to make him feel better."

"I don't know what to advise either." She agreed, leaning against his shoulder. "Tsunade needs to be told."

"I know. But…after Christmas, okay?" He pleaded, and she sighed, looking up at him from her headrest.

"You're an idiot Naruto. No one is going to cancel Christmas because you got hurt."

"They will if they know that my healing abilities don't work on these wounds." He said accidentally, feeling distracted, only to suddenly regret his words as Sakura sat bolt upright.

"WHAT?" She cried, and Naruto tried to hush her, but Sasuke had heard, and appeared in the hallway.

"Naruto, what's wrong?" He asked, coming up the first few steps. Sakura looked back and forth between them, and gave Naruto a meaningful, angry look.

"Nothing…" Naruto lied, and Sakura gave him a light yet still painful punch in the arm. "…I just…" He sighed, finally letting go of his perfect Christmas. "The injuries…my healing abilities don't work on them." He admitted uncomfortably. Sasuke's eyes seemed to be looking at him calculatingly, before settling on a stern look.

"I kind of guessed that. I'd be a bit stupid if I'd not been able to tell that from looking at them last night." He said, not angry, just judgmental.

"We have to take him to Tsunade." Sakura said, looking back and forth between them.

"No!" Naruto said, trying to hold onto what was left of his not so perfect Christmas.

"I'm going to be honest, we've waited three days…I'm not entirely certain twenty four hours will make much more of a difference." Sasuke responded, getting a surprised look from Sakura. "Plus I promised Naruto that this Christmas would be perfect. I said I wouldn't let this destroy Christmas, and this is his first Christmas with family. That may not mean much to you or me, because we've had them before, and know what a pain they can be, and how onerous they are. But…" He looked up at Naruto, love and care showing on his face. "I want Naruto to love Christmas. And that kind of hangs on today." His expression hardened. "But tomorrow we go straight to the Hokage." Naruto nodded, feeling hope blooming inside of him, even Sakura seemed to understand.

"I'll come with you." She said, smiling at them. "We're a team after all." The three looked at one another, feeling closer than ever, before going down into the main room for present opening.

Everyone felt excited about presents, they were piled high in front of the tree, and even Akamaru could sense the tension in the air as people could hardly wait. Sasuke was in charge of handing them out, Naruto grinning as the raven passed items to each person, and people began to tear through the paper, or unwrap it delicately. Shikamaru had got everyone practical presents, like books or scarves, whilst Kiba had gone the other way, and got people comics, mangas, and posters. Hinata and Sakura had both made presents, whilst Ino's gifts seemed to have been bought from a visiting market a month or so back, and Shino had bought things people had mentioned they wanted, somehow remembering them all. Sasuke and Naruto had also got everyone very different presents, whilst Naruto's were mostly food based, Sasuke's ones tended towards fancy things, like fascinators or leather gloves. Everyone babbled happily about their gifts, trying them on, tasting them, reading them, and generally enjoying them. Time wore on, and people began to leave, no one being able to stay later for the Uchiha estate Christmas, until finally Ino and Sakura were the only ones left.

"Ugh, I don't want to go home." The pink haired one grumbled.

"I know." Ino sighed, leaning on Sakura's shoulder. "But at least I'll be with you." She smiled up at the other girl, who looked slightly happier, but still reluctant.

"Mum's just so fastidious. 'Dinner in the dining room, no eating in front of the TV, crackers at six pm sharp'." She said, mimicking her mother's voice. "I just like chilling like this. Christmas is so stressful."

"Well, we'll just have to sing Christmas songs at the top of our lungs so that your mum banishes us to your room." Ino gave Sakura a sly grin, and the other girl blushed slightly.

"Yeah, yeah lets do that!" She said, energy suddenly back. They got up and collected their stuff, putting presents in bags to carry home. At the door, after they'd said goodbye, Sasuke held Sakura back.

"When will you and Ino…you know…" He said, looking at her significantly.

"I don't know. My family is judgemental…but…" She smiled, looking over at her blonde crush. "…soon. I'm beginning to not care what my family think." Sasuke gave her a kind smile as Naruto ran up beside them and latched onto the raven's arm.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" He yelled, making Sakura wince, and Ino laugh. They waved the couple goodbye, and shut the door. There was hardly any mess, most people having helped tidy up as they went. The TV still had something playing on it quietly, and the two boys slumped down into the sofa, breathing in the peace.

Naruto began to doze happily, feeling full and warm, whilst Sasuke watched some sort of live show about how to make Christmas decorations, which it felt a bit late in the day for, but apparently people were watching. Time passed, and then there was a knock at the door. Getting up without disturbing Naruto, Sasuke opened the door, and was greeted by Hiro, the errand boy.

"Sasuke!" The younger boy said, beaming. "I was sent to check if you're up for coming over for dinner? It'll be a much smaller affair than lunch, but we saw you had guests…but there's Christmas cake!" Sasuke allowed himself to smile at the younger boy, who looked at him in shock.

"We'd love to. Just let me get Naruto." He went back in and gently woke Naruto, who smiled up at him, and dragged himself outside so that he could join the house celebrations. Over by the staff house, the housekeeper and butler were waiting by the door, smiling, the gardener lurking behind them, looking slightly tipsy as he waved at them. Sasuke took Naruto's hand in his own, and led him across the garden, only for the blonde to pull back slightly when they were halfway there. "What'd wrong?" The raven asked, looking at Naruto, who was staring up at the sky. Silently, he pointed up, and Sasuke followed his gaze, and saw snowflakes gently floating down from the grey clouds above them.

"Snow…" Naruto breathed, pure delight lighting up his face. Sasuke grinned at him, and told him to wait there, crossing over to the housekeeper.

"I know this is a bit unusual…but…could we have cake and tea outside? In the garden?" He asked, and she beamed at him.

"What a lovely idea, tea and cake in the snow, by the tree. I'll let everyone know." She hurried inside, and soon the twenty odd staff were filing out, trays of hot, steaming mugs with marshmallows floating in them being handed about, bowls of nibbles, and slices of cake being passed along, Naruto bounsing happily around as the snow settled, quickly becoming thick, falling through the air like a thick blizzard. Sasuke caved, and joined Naruto and some others making snow angles, and the smallest of snowmen, drinking hot drinks and eating dense Christmas cake as people began to hum Christmas carols. Small lights wee placed around the garden so that it looked like a Christmas wonderland. Naruto joined Sasuke one the garden bench when he'd finally exhausted himself and the activities.

"This is perfect." He grinned, leaning into Sasuke as the raven wrapped an arm around him.

"It's because of you." Sasuke smiled, looking around at the grounds, covered in people and cheer. It hadn't been like this in a long time. "You've changed me. You've changed us." He leant his head against Naruto's, then took the blonde's chin in his hand, and turned it to face him. "Merry Christmas." He said, leaning down and planting a kiss on the other boys lips, slightly chilled from the air, but warm inside. Naruto leant into it, allowing Sasuke to enter his mouth wrapping his arms around the raven's neck, and tangling his hands into the dark hair. They broke apart, Naruto's eyes shining with joy.

"Merry Christmas." He said quietly, finally having the perfect Christmas.

Christmas night, smut epilogue.

Naruto laid down on the bed, looking up at Sasuke, who crept slowly over him until their eyes were level. There was silence outside, everyone having gone in, and snowfall making even the slightest sound muffled. There was only a small light on in the bedroom, giving them privacy.

"You sure you're feeling up for this?" Sasuke asked, eyes full of lust, but carefully holding back.

"I am." Naruto said, nodding enthusiastically. The raven smirked, and pulled Naruto's trousers and boxers down, slowly baring the skin to the cold air, kissing the flesh close to his crotch, on the inside of his thighs, and discarding the unwanted items of clothing somewhere on their bedroom floor. Pulling down his own trousers and pants, he kicked them free, and leant over Naruto, who's body was twitching in anticipation. Sasuke pulled out some lube, and layered it onto his fingers, before sliding one up Naruto's anus. The blonde made a small noise, gripping Sasuke's shirt in his fists, and hissing at the cold. The raven pushed a second finger in, scissoring so that the opening relaxed and widened in preparation. Pulling a condom on, he crawled up a bit, hooking Naruto's legs over his shoulders.

"Ready?" He said with a sly look, and Naruto nodded, eyes half lidded, cheeks flushed.

"Ready." Sasuke slid in, and Naruto cried out, the feeling of Sasuke's penis sliding in smoothly causing pain and elation. He clenched his arms around the raven's body, clinging to the fabric, and closing his eyes and biting his lip as the thrusting motions pounded into his body. As the movement sped up, Naruto felt it hit his prostate, making him cry out, and Sasuke began to pant, aiming for that spot. Naruto began crying out as Sasuke rammed his penis into the blonde, their bodies moving together, rocking hard on the bed, shaking, heating up and becoming breathless, until finally Naruto cried out as he came, Sasuke joining him quickly afterwards. Naruto fell back onto the bed, Sasuke lying beside him.

"Now I need a shower." Naruto sighed, in pure bliss.

"I can help with that." Sasuke said, giving a sly grin.

"Oh my fucking god." Naruto said, shoving a pillow in Sasuke's face, and curling up beside him whilst he caught his breath, as Christmas day finally passed.


	5. Chapter 5

Christmas lights shone in the air, floating past Naruto as he tried to catch them. He stared at them wide eyed, longing for them to come closer. His hand reached out, but as it touched one, a pain shot through his chest, and blood blossomed through his orange t-shirt, lining up to spell the word 'fag', cut into his flesh. He clutched over the wound, Kabuto's indifferent face shrugging as the boy, Yui, laughed, and handed the grey haired figure a small bag. Naruto tried to call out, but his voice was swallowed into nothingness. _It's just a memory, just a dream,_ he told himself, trying to wake up, _it didn't ruin christmas, it didn't it didn't it didn't it-_ Naruto heard a voice, and looked up, seeing Sasuke pushing the christmas lights away in a confused manner, so that he could get to the blonde. The raven reached towards him, and Naruto stretched out a hand, trying to get to him, feeling warmth and safety rolling out in waves from his lover. Now he ignored the lights, ignored the figures, the blood, the pain, the snow he had to slog through; he would get to Sasuke, he would if only just to touch him one more time...his hands brushed Sasuke's, and he was pulled in tight, arms wrapping around him as he slowly woke up, tears staining his face.

"It's alright." Sasuke said as the last of the nightmare faded away and Naruto found himself cocooned by the raven. "It was just a bad dream." Naruto nodded, his breathing slowing down again. But he still couldn't shake it. It may have just been a dream, but it had happened. Kabuto...that strange boy Yui...the knife that stopped him from healing...his chest still sported the injury...and christmas...he paused as that thought flittered across his mind...christmas had not been ruined. His nightmare had tried to tear it away, but it hadn't succeeded. It had been his first christmas, and it had been perfect. Well, as perfect as a christmas could get, with arguments, running off into the cold, hiding something big from the one you loved only for them to discover it as christmas day bells tolled for the first time...but according to everyone else, trouble was basically what christmas was about. Not perfect happy scenes, not finding the perfect moments, but surviving ordeals, and falling out only to resolve things.

" _It's not christmas until somebody cries."_

Or so the saying went. Naruto hadn't understood it until he'd experienced it.

"You okay?" The raven asked.

"Mm. Just don't like bad dreams." Naruto replied, and Sasuke nodded, before smiling.

"Hey, it's boxing day."

"...wait...wait boxing day?" Naruto said, sitting up slightly. "As in everything in the village is suddenly affordable day?" Sasuke groaned and flopped back down into his pillow.

"Are you seriously going to make me go shopping on boxing day?" He asked resistantly.

"We have to! There's going to be manga, and ramen, and terrible dvd's, random kitchen items like electric whisks and bread makers, probably games as well, and all for ridiculously cheap prices!" Sasuke stared at the manic looking blonde.

"...you don't even like bread." He said, glaring.

"I might if we made it at home." Naruto pouted.

"...I'm going to have to go aren't I…" The raven said, looking put out.

"Not if you really don't want to…" Naruto said, looking away sadly.

"Oh for…" Sasuke pulled Naruto into a hug, and sighed. "If you're going to get all sad about it, I guess it couldn't hurt."

"AW YEAH!" Naruto cheered, switching to enthusiastic again. The raven eyed the blonde suspiciously at such a sudden change in demeanour, but only got a stupid grin in response.

"I'm putting a cap on how much we can bring back to the house though." He said, but Naruto was already getting up and grabbing clothes. "Hey, dobe, are you listening? I said I'mmf!" Sasuke's words were stifled as Naruto kissed him, giggling into his lips, making the contact hum with vibrations that tingled through Sasuke. They broke apart and Sasuke stared at the smirking Naruto, blushing slightly.

"I got it, limit on purchases. Now come on grumpy pants, it's shopping time." Naruto beamed, before pulling Sasuke out of bed.

The village was busy, but not unbearably so. They made their way to the main shopping street, or rather Naruto ploughed through the crowd and Sasuke followed as fast as he could. They went from shop to shop, Naruto pestering Sasuke for the most bizarre items, and being restrained from fighting a random man for a luxury penguin shaped kettle. He sulked for a while after that until Sasuke found him an orange kettle with a manga character drawn on the side. They were standing in the queue to pay for it, the mass of fighting for deals not having reached them yet, when they spotted Kiba and Hinata in the queue next to them.

"Oh! Hey guys!" Kiba said cheerfully, arms full of discount dog food and toys. "I didn't think we'd see you here."

"I had to drag Sasuke out of the house." Naruto grinned, and Sasuke glowered at them, feeling like he would much rather still be in bed, but keenly aware that Naruto still needed his support, hence why the raven was carrying the discount goods, not the blonde.

"What did you get?" Kiba asked, peering into Sasuke's arms. "Oh wow! A fairytail kettle! Man I'm jealous…"

"I know right?" Naruto grinned. "I missed a penguin one, but Sasuke found this for me."

"Really?" Kiba eyed Sasuke, who still looked like the grim reaper of christmas shopping. "I...can't actually picture him being enthusiastic about this kind of shopping."

"I'm not." Sasuke replied sourly.

"Yeah, he's a grinch." Naruto replied cheerfully. "What did you guys get?"

"Things for the dogs." Kiba said, lifting his armful up slightly. "Should last them a couple of months at least before they eat their way through the food and rip the toys to pieces."

"Nice." Naruto nodded, acknowledging Kiba's sensible purchases. "What about you Hinata?"

The girl blushed, and held out a bunch of weapons and training supplies.

"I wanted to brush up on my fighting over the holidays...but I couldn't decide what to focus on…" Naruto looked at her in surprise.

"I...didn't even know this shop sold that stuff."

"Hinata bought out the entire section, so you wouldn't have spotted it." Kiba said casually, and Hinata flushed an even darker shade of scarlet.

"Naruto." Sasuke said, and nodded in the direction of the till which was now free.

"Right, hey, guys, meet you outside?" He asked hopefully.

"Sure!" Kiba replied, grinning. "Akamaru should be out there." Sasuke shuffled Naruto towards the tills as Kiba called out quickly "LET'S GET FOOD!" Naruto nodded, and turned his attention back to the till. The woman serving them was old, and seemed uninterested until she caught sight of Naruto. Her mood turned sour and unfriendly, and Naruto was relieved when she bagged their items and Sasuke finished paying. They made their way outside, spotting Akamaru, and going over to him. Soon Kiba came out, and not long after, Hinata joined them.

"I wish the market was up and running today…" Naruto said sadly as they made their way to the ramen restaurant.

"You don't want ramen?" Sasuke asked in confusion.

"Oh, of course I do, I just wish we could get nibbles from the stall that deep fries everything."

"Oh man," Kiba said, joining in wistfully, "I would murder for some deep fried chocolate."

"...how can you eat that?" Sasuke asked, looking repulsed.

"I dunno dude, it's kind of like the world's worst food, but it just tastes so good…" Kiba said, looking distant.

"Yeah, but at least Teuchi does some batter fried stuff." Naruto said cheering up.

"...do you think he'd fry a chocolate bar if I brought one?" Kiba asked hopefully.

"I doubt it, he's very into his food, none of that junk food stuff." Naruto replied, looking apologetic.

"Ah, never mind. I'll just have to have calamari."

The group sat and ate happily at the ramen place, Naruto happily telling Teuchi about his first proper christmas, and sharing laughs with the chef about Christmas TV as the older man happily explained how he did christmas dinner.

"Hey, Naruto…" Kiba asked when the chef had gone to tend to another customer, and Sasuke seemed distracted by reading the drinks menu whilst Hinata fed Akamaru bits of meat.

"Hm?" The blonde asked, slurping up yet another bowl of ramen.

"Have you gone to Tsunade yet?" Naruto froze, and slowly swallowed his mouthful, looking down.

"Not yet." Kiba gave him a judgmental look.

"You really should have."

"...I wanted to go boxing day shopping…" Naruto replied, looking at Kiba pleadingly.

"I'm not going to pretend that the bargains aren't tempting...but wouldn't you say that seeing Tsunade is more important?" Kiba asked, but before Naruto could respond, Sasuke replied for him.

"He's avoiding it because he knows he'll be stuck in her house for the whole day." The raven looked up at the other two boys, a frown on his face. "I figured he could get one last bit of christmas freedom in before he's put under house arrest."

"What if something happens before then?" Kiba asked, glaring at the raven.

"That's why I'm not letting him out of my sight." Sasuke replied curtly.

"Like that could-" Kiba received an elbow in the stomach as Hinata glared at him. Kiba looked at her defensively, before muttering "I only meant he's not a Jonin, he's only a chunin...like us…" This earnt Kiba another elbow in the gut, making him shut up.

"Look, after this bowl of ramen, we'll go to Tsunade." Naruto said, trying to make a compromise where everyone was happy, and no one was being elbowed.

"Deal." Kiba said, ploughing into his ramen again.

Snow was settling on the ground outside the Hokage's house, and Sasuke led a reluctant Naruto up to the door, knocking on it loudly. At first no one answered, but then a woman came to the door, eyeing the boys up.

"The hokage isn't seeing anyone." She said dismissively.

"It's important." Sasuke said.

"I really wouldn't advise it." She replied.

"I don't care what you'd advise." The raven said impatiently.

"...I have half a mind to shut the door on you right now." The woman said tersely. "But quite frankly, if you're going to have that attitude, you deserve everything you get from disturbing her." She opened the door for them, and let them go through the long corridor and down to Tsunade's main living room. Sasuke ducked as he entered and a shot glass came flying at him.

"I am WAY too hungover to deal with you, Uchiha." She growled, "There isn't enough alcohol in the world for me to drink myself out of this hangover, and I am not in the mood for your snarky little bitchy ass attitude." She scowled, and was reaching for another missile when her expression softened as she saw Naruto. "Look, I know trouble follows you around like a lost puppy, but, just, wait until tomorrow." She lay back down on the sofa. "Go away and I won't remove any of your limbs."

Sasuke glared at the sofa, and stepped forward, only to find himself hoisted into the air by a rope, so that he dangled upside down from the ceiling.

"OLD WITCH!" Sasuke yelled, flushing as he realised he should have noticed the trap.

"Yeah yeah, you can try and evade all the traps in this room, but if you're going to yell I'll just gut you right now." She grumbled from the sofa.

"Um...Tsunade…" Naruto began as Sasuke cut himself free of the rope only to fall through the floor he carefully landed on, ending up in a pit, a net trapping him down there.

"Naruto, I have no issue with you, you're allowed to stay." She replied, and Sasuke seethed as he cut himself free, again.

"Stupid old hag, maybe if you listened instead of drinking," Sasuke said, leaping out of the pit and ducking before kunai shot past his head, "NARUTO GOT HURT." He yelled. There was a pause as the attacks stopped, and Tsunade sat up, looking at him.

"I'm guessing this is more important than that, as Naruto can just heal himself…"

"These wounds won't heal." Naruto said quietly, and the hokage turned to him, attention now caught.

"...I need to be more sober for this." She left the room, and they heard a shower turn on, before she returned soaked, but looking more clear headed. "Alright, tell me what happened.

They sat and talked for a long while that afternoon, retelling what the last few days had brought, and explaining as best as they could the look of the weapon. Naruto ended up looking miserable at the end, even though he knew christmas had not gone too badly. He felt a weight over him as he thought about the next few days he would surely spend confined. But luckily, Tsunade seemed to notice.

"Normally I would say limit yourself to leaving the estate only when necessary…but… I think it might actually be better to go about as if nothing has changed. You spent the last four days running around without telling me...let them think you still haven't. Act as if I didn't know. I… am way too wankered to think of how to deal with this right now, but tomorrow I'll come up with a plan. You probably won't need to do anything. So just….fuck off home. Go on, I need a fucking drink and some sleep."

Naruto beamed at Sasuke as they left the building, holding back a yell of joy only just barely. The raven sighed, and slung an arm around his boyfriend, pulling him in close.

"I'm still not letting you out of my sight."

"That's fine, I wanna go play my new games anyway."

When they got back home, Naruto immediately started playing one of the console games he'd got for christmas whilst munching on mince pies, and Sasuke made them what he hoped was the last of the eggnogg. He was getting kinda sick of the weird eggy drink, and looked forward to going back to hot chocolate, a thought he never imagined he would have. The night started to darken early, as usual, and they sat on the sofa watching some movie about a princess and her dog running away for christmas only for the dog to be a prince.

"That's….borderline bestiality." Sasuke grumbled, and Naruto nudged him playfully.

"Yeah well, tell that to half the movies out there."  
"I would if I could." Naruto chuckled at Sasuke's resigned response, and leant against him, slowly drifting off. The day was coming to a close, and soon it would be back to normal. Naruto was sad christmas was over, but also a bit relieved. It had been one hell of a christmas, that was for sure.

Naruto woke up in bed, and rolled over, smiling at the fast asleep Uchiha, and wondering when he had brought him upstairs. The last thing Naruto remembered was falling asleep on the sofa, but then Sasuke did this a lot. Quietly Naruto got up and went downstairs, letting Sasuke finally get a music free morning, though when he got downstairs, he couldn't resist turning on the radio very low. He grinned as christmas music still played, familiarity and warmth spreading through him as he made a hot chocolate and went to sit on the sofa and read his manga.

He paused, looking around. He couldn't see yesterday's haul, and was about to yell upstairs when he caught sight of the tree. With all it's presents underneath it. Still wrapped. For a moment Naruto thought this was some stupid joke, but he went over to one of the ones he had wrapped for Sasuke, and saw the exact same tear where he had failed at wrapping. These were definitely the ones he had wrapped. And they were all collected under the tree as if christmas hadn't even….

Naruto felt a chill run down his spine, and placed a hand on his chest. The twinge of pain let him know his wound was still there, but when he looked under his shirt, there was no bandage. Just the scabby word and slash… he began to panic. What was going on? Why was everything back to before? He turned the radio up and heard the announcer talking.

"...which means that the next song up will be 'I wish it would be christmas everyday', a good classic. Happy 22nd of december everyone, only three sleeps til christmas. Here we go." The music started blaring out, but Naruto barely heard it, his head spinning. He felt the world wobble, and reached out to grab the counter to stop himself from falling over as his stomach turned in somersaults. Finally he found his voice, and yelled upstairs to Sasuke.

"Sa...SA...SASUKE, SASUKE COME DOWN THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG…" Naruto heard Sasuke thump out of bed and run down the hall to the stairs, and a thought struck him, what if Sasuke didn't realise something was wrong? What if it was just him? Panic thrummed through Naruto and tears collected in his eyes as he slid down to the floor. And then Sasuke was next to him, holding him, asking him what was wrong. Naruto pointed at the tree, and Sasuke looked at in in confusion.

"What? Did you see something by the…." He trailed off. "Is...is this some kind of joke?"

"No...radio….radio said...22nd…" Naruto said, hoping Sasuke's tone meant what he thought it did.

"That's….impossible…."

"Did you rewrap all our presents?"

"No."

"Did you hide all our shopping?"

"No!"

"And….is the turkey still in the freezer?" They exchanged a look, and Sasuke cautiously went to the freezer, and opened it, going paler than normal.

"The fuck is going on…" He muttered, noting the exact same mark he had used to identify the turkey he had wanted."

'OH I WISH IT COULD BE CHRISTMAS, EVERYDAAAAAAY' The radio blared out into the silence in the room, and the two of them exchanged disoriented and confused looks, wondering what the hell was going on.


End file.
